Member Review
Review by
Christina D, Reviewer
In this debut novel by Melanie Golding, we follow the journey of a seemingly-innocent, but understandably, exhausted new mother to twin boys. Strange events occur just after the birth of her twins, a scary "river woman" appears in the next bed and ominously threatens that if the mother, Lauren, ever leaves her babies alone, even for a moment, she will snatch them and exchange them for her own twins who appear to be strange, filthy, "creatures" of the river, not truly human. The book starts out a bit slow but picks up in the second half as strange things start to happen that make us (and Lauren's husband, Patrick, Detective Harper and her doctors) all wonder--is it Lauren's exhausted imagination, her mental health history or something truly dark and sinister happening, not of this world?
Like other reviewers, I found this book enticingly creepy, but had to find out what happened! While Golding doesn't really give us the clean/tidy ending one might hope for, we are left to wonder--was Lauren the culprit? Is her mind playing tricks on her? Or was she inexplicably tied to some dark, long-lost and forgotten historical disappearance of the "drowned village?"
That, friends and fellow readers, is up to you to interpret, mull and decide.
Overall, I enjoyed the fairy/historical additions and suppositions Golding weaves into this story. Not traditionally a fan of dark and twisted fairy-like stories, I found this one well-done and not too over the top. For those who tend to veer away from fantasy/supernatural novels, I'd encourage you to give this one a try. It has much more reality than fantasy and the parts that are included are done in a way that doesn't force the reader to fully immerse in a fantasy world.
3.5 stars!
Like other reviewers, I found this book enticingly creepy, but had to find out what happened! While Golding doesn't really give us the clean/tidy ending one might hope for, we are left to wonder--was Lauren the culprit? Is her mind playing tricks on her? Or was she inexplicably tied to some dark, long-lost and forgotten historical disappearance of the "drowned village?"
That, friends and fellow readers, is up to you to interpret, mull and decide.
Overall, I enjoyed the fairy/historical additions and suppositions Golding weaves into this story. Not traditionally a fan of dark and twisted fairy-like stories, I found this one well-done and not too over the top. For those who tend to veer away from fantasy/supernatural novels, I'd encourage you to give this one a try. It has much more reality than fantasy and the parts that are included are done in a way that doesn't force the reader to fully immerse in a fantasy world.
3.5 stars!
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