Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this title. I will review this title at a different date.

This was a page turner. I could feel her anxiety, exhaustion, frustration. In fact, I had a hard time reading it and kept falling asleep as I was reading. It was an easy read when I was awake but it just made me tired. I kept waiting for the reveal. For the explanation that never really came.

This is a dark read and I loved it.

This is 100% for fans of dark horror and it kept me up all night because I needed to finish it.

Daaaark book and boy was I here for it! This is true horror. Lauren has gone through it in this book. And as a parent this was TOUGH TO READ but worth it. If you know, then you know.

AND I just heard this is being made into a movie so YES! We need more amazing horror books turned into films.

Creepy but not as creepy as I was hoping. I really liked the writing style in this book and found myself engaged throughout. I will be trying more from Golding in the future.

It's rare that I meet a book so creepy that I have to stop reading it for a little bit. This book is atmospheric and truly downright scary at some points.

What a page-turner! I read this book in two evenings. It’s a thriller, mystery, and dark fairytale, with a dash of the paranormal, all rolled into one book.

In this debut novel, Melanie Golding perfectly captures the fog of postpartum and maternal instinct. She took me back 15 years, to my early days with my newborn daughter. This made the main character, Lauren, immediately relatable.

New mothers are often on the receiving end of well-meant, unsolicited advice and Lauren was no exception.

After a terrifying night in the hospital where a filthy woman tries to exchange Lauren’s twins with her own creature-like twins, Lauren is told she is imagining things and the incident is dismissed as exhaustion. Video footage confirms that nothing happened and soon enough Lauren and her irritating husband Patrick are heading home with their newborn twins.

Lauren’s fears and terror continue yet she cannot convince those around her that something isn’t right. As a mother, I could put myself in that situation and that’s what made this a page-turner.

I had to know what happened next.

What I did like:

The writing was well done, Lauren’s character was well developed and easy to empathize with. I love a good changeling story. And changeling twins? Even better.

I also appreciated the presentation of a postpartum mother, suffering from terrible worry and fear, without turning her into an unreliable narrator. I never felt the need to question Lauren’s fears.

What I didn’t like:

UGH the husband, Patrick. I’m sure that is a universal feeling from anyone who has read this book. Sometimes his clueless demeanor bordered on cruel, making him feel a bit overdeveloped. But I do believe that helped strengthen Lauren’s character and story.

Harper, the detective – I wish her back story had been expanded more. She was right on the cusp of being an interesting and well-developed character.

I recieved an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and will recommend it often to lovers of mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels!

It it rare that I don’t find something to like about a book but this one just didn’t do it for me. I was at times bored and at other times creeped out, but never could get into the characters or the story. The gruesome fairy tale aspect of the book may have been what turned me off but I found myself wishing for it to end. I received an advanced copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review so I kept plodding on in the hopes that it would pick up. Unfortunately, the ending was worse. I probably am just the wrong reader for this book because so many others liked it.

This was a paranormal book which I found to be solid, but did not reach the level of me saying I really enjoyed it. It was interesting, forced you to suspend reality, and makes you question the competency and motives of all of the main characters-which was my favorite aspect. It was a fine read, but not one that will particularly stand out for me, so ⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars.

I had higher hopes for "Little Darlings" from the synopsis but the overall story seems to just fall flat for me. While it's a dark and slightly creepy book, it just didn't really work for me. The characters are largely unlikable and the plot was rather predictable.

What a creepy and engaging book! It’s part thriller, part mystery and and a little horror thrown in. The story moves quickly and is a twisty, suspenseful read that won’t disappoint you.

This book drew me in from the start. The books was paced with a narrator that I immediately connected with. I highly recommend this twisty, dark tale. I read this as an ARC on netgalley.

I started reading this book, but couldn't continue reading it due to the content and storyline. I had to stop reading the book.

I had high hopes for this one from the description, but it fell just slightly flat for me. There were aspects that I really enjoyed, first off it having a dark fairy tale element that was really appealing to me. The atmosphere was really dark and I think it was well done, not to mention this is a retelling that I haven't seen often, which was nice.
I enjoyed the way that it was written in that we more often than not weren't sure what the mental state of the mother was.
I think the full reason it fell a little flat for me was because at it's core, its a story about motherhood and as I am not a parent, I just couldn't relate to that aspect. I think parents would have an easier time of it than I did. But overall, I liked it, it just didn't live up to the full hype it could have.

This has got to be one of the creepiest domestic thrillers I've ever read. The first pages perfectly capture how vulnerable and uncertain a new mother can feel, especially one without enough support. That's even before a strange woman appears in Lauren's hospital room, wanting to trade Lauren's newborn identical twin sons for the two miserable things in the stranger's basket. Lauren manages to lock herself and the twins in the bathroom and call for help, but when the authorities do arrive the hospital staff blames Lauren's fragile mental state.



A month later, after the twins are abducted but quickly returned, Lauren is unconvinced that the babies in the stroller are her own. They look like Morgan and Riley, but something is different. She can no longer tell the two apart or recognize their cries. They behave differently. Their eyes have changed. Even her husband can see that, but it's explained away as the normal change in eye color that all newborns have.



Once Harper, a police officer looking into the incident at the hospital, was introduced my interest started to wane a bit. Lauren and her fears are fascinating, but Harper's presence pulled me away from what I loved most about the book. I wasn't interested in the detective's back story or personal life, but I guess she was a necessary part of the plot.



Overall, I loved this one and highly recommend it if you're in the mood for a domestic thriller with the possibility of a supernatural element.

Good creepy book! This book kept me up until the wee hours of the night! Great for the horror lover! Thanks netgalley for the free arc!

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

This is a creepy story that will remind you of reading Grimm's Fairytales, where the stories are meant to be tales of caution but are just darn right bone-chilling. Don't sleep after reading.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is creepy and page turning all at the same time. This is beautifully written and will stay with you long after you finish.