Wow, this was creepy! A sort of fairy tale retelling, where a mom thinks a woman has turned her twin babies into something...other than human.

At first, I didn't think I was going to like this book. It went into a lot of extra detail about things that didn't really add to the book, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

Thank you #NetGalley for an early review copy of #LittleDarlings by Melanie Golding.

Holy cuckoo crazy cakes! I needed to take a minute to reattach my head before I wrote this review. What I thought was going to be just another take on the oh so overused unreliable female narrator trope turned out to be a wonderfully creepy novel that jumped right onto my list for favorite books of the year.

In this spooky tale a sleep deprived new mother of twins believes a woman is trying to steal her babies and replace them with creatures. While her less than supportive husband wants her to stop making such a fuss and get down to the business of mothering, a curious detective starts digging into the mother's claims.

Disney fairy tales are one thing but Grimm's fairy tales are...well...grim. While there has been an explosion of fairy tale retellings in recent years no one has done quite what debut novelist Melanie Golding has by inventing a totally new psychological horror story. Just like the Brothers Grimm, Golding has managed to play on our fears, twist our thoughts, and cause the hairs to stand up on the back of our necks. Disturbing in the best possible way, I am recommending this to everyone...except new mothers!



After a little research I learned that Golding was inspired by the ghostly folktale ‘The Brewery of Eggshells’ (read it HERE, the accompanying illustration alone is enough to give you a nightmare) which she includes in the novel. She has also received a movie deal for this story so I'll be keeping my eye out for that.

I went into this thinking that it was going to be another police procedural with a possible hint of psychological thriller thrown in.  Boy, was I ever wrong.  Little Darlings is dark, exciting, and one heck of a thrill ride.  The best part is that you really have no idea which reality is the true one.  Is Lauren really only exhausted or did faeries try to steal her infant twins?

Lauren Tranter is an interesting character.  From all accounts, she's a reasonable, rational person.  That she presents herself so normally in the beginning is the key to everything - you want to believe she's not losing her mind.  But there are little bits and pieces dropped here and there that make you begin to wonder.  Is she really as stable as she wants us to believe?

DS Joanna Harper has issues of her own, but she does her best to keep them firmly in the past.  However, she does make some impulsive decisions that tend to get her into trouble with her boss.  I liked how she didn't automatically write Lauren's 999 call from the hospital off as a mental health issue.  Sometimes there's more at work than is obvious.  I do hope that there is another book in this series with Harper, because I would like to see her grow and become a better detective.  

Little Darlings has something for everyone.  An intense, creepy mystery with threads of dark faery tales woven into it.  Fast paced and gripping, I'd highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery wrapped in a bit of paranormal possibility.  The addition of bits of folklore heading each chapter only made the story more intriguing for me.  Watching it all come together in the end was worth the wait.

Wow!! What a scary and chilling read I found this book to be. When I first heard about this book I thought it was going to be a thriller, but when I actually started reading I found it was much more. It was a thriller interwind with mental health issues and folklore stories relating to twins.

This story had me obsessed with finding out whether the babies where really exchanged for changelings or whether it was just all in the mothers head. While reading I never quite know what to believe and even found myself doubting the mother like the others in this book do.


Although I thought the writing and pacing of the story was right on point, there were a few little bits that I found to be a bit slow, but the interesting storyline made up for this. I liked how the chapters alternated between the two characters, Lauren the mother and Harper, the detective who is working on the case.

The characters in the book were great and well developed. While reading I never quite knew what to believe and even found myself doubting the mother like the others in this book do. I did feel sorry for the main character Lauren by the end, and oh my hate for Patrick. I thought he was a manipulative prick and really wanted to punch him in the face, for the way he treated Lauren after having the twins.

Also, even though the characters and storyline had me gripped and wanting to keep reading I thought it did need to be a little more darker and creeper. But other than that, I couldn’t really find a fault.

There is so much more I want to say about this book but I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t read it yet. So, let me conclude by saying that this was a great debut novel, that you need to read, especially if you’re into reading dark and creepy thrillers.

I definitely can’t wait to see what Melanie Golding has to offer next.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher’s Crooked Lane Books for a copy of my eARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.

If Little Darlings has proven anything to me, it’s that no two people ever read the same book.

Dark folklore is something I find incredibly fascinating and I found myself drawn to this story of a new mother who knows that her children are not her own. Any new mother would sympathize with her fears and I found relating to Lauren throughout the book was almost second nature. Between her fears in the hospital, her experiences at home and her fight to prove she hasn’t completely lost her mind, Lauren had my heart with her. I don’t think there has been a character written that had me so emotionally invested. She is every first time mom and she’s kind of my hero.

I’ve seen this debut described as “creepy, haunting, unsettling and scary” but the one word that doesn’t get brought up as often as I would expect after having read the book…is “sad”. This book is frighteningly sad and that tone changed the entire story for me. Sure, there is still a very dark and sinister undertone throughout but, in my opinion, what stands out more than the dark faerie tale is the very real inner turmoil that this new mother is fighting. It is scary and it is creepy but, mostly, it is heartbreaking.

As captivating and quick as Little Darlings is to read, it definitely isn’t perfect. There are some character arcs that I found a little unnecessary and the ending did feel kind of forced but I still greatly enjoyed every minute of reading it and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something a bit different. I truly had a hard time putting it down. I also believe that it is the kind of book that has so many underlying themes that it very easily has multiple interpretations. Is this a horror book? A ghost story? A psychological thriller or a focus on mental illness? It is well worth the read to decide for yourself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my own opinion.

When Lauren Tranter gave birth to her twin boys, Morgan and Riley, she was fascinated by the perfect little boys they were – identical; separated by colours (yellow and green) so she and Patrick could tell them apart. But for Lauren, it didn’t take long for her to know her boys without the identifying colours. The night in the hospital when the disheveled woman carrying a basket wanted to take Lauren’s babies, swapping them for her own, was when the nightmares started for Lauren. For no one believed what she saw…

Sergeant Jo Harper followed up the 999 call, meeting Lauren and being convinced there was something to what she was saying. But after the ire of her boss, Jo had to let it go – the hospital and everyone else believed Lauren had a psychotic episode brought on by exhaustion.

Four weeks after the birth and convinced by Patrick that Lauren should venture out into the fresh air and sunshine with the boys, the unthinkable happened. Abducted but discovered not long afterwards, the police, Patrick, the onlookers – all were ecstatic at the outcome. But Lauren knew something was wrong – they were NOT her boys! Could she find them? And who were the boys she now had – the changelings? What was she to do?

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding is a strange but compulsive thriller that’s left me a little confused. I was not happy with the ending – it felt rushed and left some things up in the air for me. Patrick was an extremely selfish husband and seemed to get away with way too much. I enjoyed the character of Lauren, as well as Jo Harper, but the journalist, Amy, was unlikeable and ditzy in my opinion – and was she completely necessary to the story? But as I’m still pondering this debut thriller – recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars – I usually, don’t like books that involve the supernatural, but I really loved this one! I didn’t find it too implausible.

First off, the writing in this novel is exceptional, it’s extremely well described and creates a very sinister vibe.

The story revolves around a mother, Lauren, and her two newborn identical twins, Riley and Morgan. The author really depicted all the hard work mothers do, and the lack of sleep involved. I found it really brought the story together!

Since I love police procedurals, of course, I loved Detective Harper’s involvement in this story. I especially loved the glimpses into Harper’s personal life! It gave a grounding aspect to the story since most of the time the readers are questioning “What is real and what isn’t?”

Overall the story was absolutely creative and very creepy!

So glad this is becoming a movie, I cannot wait to watch the cinematic version of this brilliant novel!

This book was well written and kept me guessing. It was all a little too farfetched for me though. I would have liked a little more history or background information on the church and town and Betty that was found in the river.

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Crooked Lane Books, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Lauren Tranter has just given birth to twin boys, and is still in the hospital, when a woman enters her room and tries to take little Morgan and Riley. Locked in the bathroom with her boys, she calls the police. No one is found, and it is quickly decided (by everyone but Lauren), that she hallucinated the woman due to her exhaustion from having a rough birth. From then on, Lauren doesn’t let the boys out of her sight. Her exhaustion only gets worse.

A month passes, and Lauren finally takes the boys to the park, where she falls asleep. Upon waking, the boys are gone.  When they are found, Lauren is sure they have been exchanged with others. She freaks….but no matter what everyone thinks, these are not her boys.  But she will play their game until she can get her own sons back.

Meanwhile, DS Jo Harper is skeptical. Perhaps Lauren is right. Although her boss refuses to entertain the idea, Harper is going to look closer.

My Opinions:
This was a rather creepy thriller, and an excellent debut novel for Melanie Golding.

Folklore was liberally mixed with a modern day mystery, and the two were entwined very well.

Lauren is a strong woman with a weak husband. Her battle with mental health is documented, so that it is difficult for the reader to know what is real, and what is her rather vivid imagination. The author did a great job in keeping the reader questioning things.

I am not sure whether Golding intends on bringing back DS Harper for subsequent books, but this could easily be the first book in a sequel starring this character, who is quite interesting.

Overall, this was a good book, especially for a debut novel. I am sure we will hear much more from Melanie Golding, and I am looking forward to the next book!

I am really torn over how I feel about Melanie Goldings "Little Darlings," and it took me 12 days to get through it, which is never a good sign. Let's start with the publisher's description to give the synopsis.

"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."

Let's talk about the good first. The author does a really good job in the beginning of intertwining elements that make you wonder if Lauren is exhausted, imagining things, suffering from postpartum psychosis, etc., or if she is really a victim of a supernatural event. She works in stories and legends about twins and changelings because the woman Lauren believes she encountered at the hospital had her "babies" in a basket and wanted to swap them for Lauren's because why should Lauren have everything that was taken from this woman? Lauren's experience in the hospital leads her to avoid sleeping at all costs when she arrives home with the babies for fear that the woman from the hospital will come back and swap the babies while she is asleep.

The investigator, Joanna (Jo), has a strong desire to dig into this case because of her own back story, so we can understand why she is so invested. After Lauren's 999 call from the hospital but before the babies are taken, Jo feels the need to investigate even though the hospital has said they referred it as a mental health case since no one saw the woman that Lauren claimed was there. Jo feels like she just has to be certain. That part of her is believable.

Now let's talk about the not so good, and this is where the book fell apart for me.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

Lauren's husband Patrick: At first, he's portrayed as this loving husband, but after the twins are brought home, he turns into a huge jerk and we know he's hiding something. He tells Lauren that she should be taking care of the twins to "practice" for when he goes back to work. He doesn't make an effort to learn how to tell them apart, moves into another bedroom so his sleep isn't interrupted, and is really demeaning to Lauren. What we find out later is that he had an affair but had broken it off but the mistress is still kind of obsessed. The only sense I can make of this is that there had to be a reason he couldn't tell the twins apart because otherwise he should have noticed that they were different after the abduction, but it just didn't work for me. And the affair was kind of glossed over, I think, because they needed the mistress to be a suspect in the abduction, but she could have just been someone who was obsessed with Patrick as opposed to making him a cheater. He was really unlikeable, so I found it hard to accept the way he acted like he cared about Lauren and the twins. I kept feeling like he was involved somehow, like he was intentionally driving Lauren crazy (which might have been a more believable ending).

Joanna: She has a history of having a child when she was a teenager, and her parents raised the baby as Jo's sister, so she feels the baby was "taken" from her, which is what makes her so intent on investigating this case even before the twins were taken. She finds clues that seem to back up Lauren's story, which is what keeps her going. That said, she is hard to root for when she acts like a teenage girl with a crush on a reporter named Amy -- waiting for Amy to call, text, should they have a drink, should they not. Amy helps her investigate the case (always off the record) and actually connects Jo to a friend of hers who happens to be a criminal Jo once arrested as well as a tech expert (really?). Jo's boss won't let her run forensics on the CCTV video from the hospital or the 999 recording because of the cost, so this friend of Amy's does it, because Jo saw shadows in the CCTV recording and heard another voice speaking through a hissing sound in Lauren's 999 call.

General plot lines: At one point, Amy is doing research on another record heat wave from 40 years ago and comes across an article about a woman who had twin boys and claimed that a woman came to try to swap the babies for her own. Jo and Amy go to talk to the woman who tells them many of the same things that Lauren told them. This is designed to make us believe that it's something supernatural, related to the river level being low since the woman apparently lives "in the river."

When the friend of Amy's goes through the CCTV and 999 recordings, he determines that the shadows Jo saw in the CCTV recording were caused by a skip in the tape, and they are able to make out a bare foot, which Jo then assumes was Lauren because the nurse at the desk outside Lauren's room didn't react like a stranger was there. When he filters out the hissing sounds in the 999 recordings, he determines that the voice matches Lauren's, which would indicate again that there was no one else in the room.

When the twins are abducted and subsequently found, Lauren is hysterical and claims they aren't her babies. They look like the twins but they don't act like the twins. Over the course of the rest of the book, Patrick and Jo supposedly see some hints of what Lauren is talking about, but they seem to change their minds about that pretty quickly. Lauren believes that in order to get her twins back, she has to take the changelings back to the river and put them under the water where they will go back to their mother and give her back her twins. (Another plot hole, why would this river mother swap Lauren's babies for her own and then change her mind three days later?) Lauren manages to hoard her medication and dose her nurse (guard?) and escape from the hospital, get back to the river on foot where the twins were originally abducted, and place them in the river to make the exchange for her real twins. Additionally, a search of the river actually turns up the skeleton of a young woman and two babies, leading us to believe that there is some haunting going on by a woman who was drowned by the river a long time ago.

By the end of the book, Lauren is still in the hospital as a psychiatric patient, Patrick has a nanny at home to help with the twins, who are apparently back to normal, and we are left to wonder again if Lauren is truly a mental health case or a victim. If she is a mental health case, then the story line with the mother from 40 years ago is irrelevant and doesn't fit, and there's no point in telling us about the skeletons found in the river. If Lauren is a victim, the CCTV and 999 tapes don't fit. Either way, the plot lines don't work at the end of the book. There is a question either way, and I can't reconcile that, which is why I'm settling on 2 stars instead of 3.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a free advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I finished Little Darlings not long ago and omg...my heart...my FEELINGS. MY BRAIN!!! That was so amazing...

How could her brain conjure something that seemed so real, something laden with so much horrifying detail, and yet there be nothing at all?

What a weird, creepy, and darkly twisty little tale- kind of like that cover! It seems to half take place in a nightmarish land and also half in reality, which makes you wonder if that's maybe also a discussion on postpartum depression and how it affects new mothers. The story was mostly between that and the twisted fairytale details. It seems to me that the idea of changelings probably stems from new mothers suffering from PPD before people actually understood what it was and why it happened, but I've also read that they potentially stem from children that begin to show signs of disability after the initial birth. Either way, they are very sinister in the stories, and that is no different from this tale.

Look at someone every day for long enough and you stop seeing what everyone else sees. You start to see what no one else sees, what is kept hidden from most people.

Lauren seems to have very little support from either her husband, family, or nursing staff, which is not really all that uncommon for many women. They all seem to expect her to get on with it and know how to take care of everything, as well as looking after the housework, etc. Especially her husband who MOVES OUT OF THEIR BEDROOM SO HE CAN GET SOME REST!! What an absolute bastard of a man. He complains nearly the whole time and doesn't take any responsibility for the boys. I really didn't like him much throughout the story. Also, those damn nurses and midwives are assholes! How dare they treat her that way... I don't understand what that's actually about.

Anyway, this tale about changelings and faeries is gripping and so interesting, yet still very strange. I truly could not put this down once I began reading. The writing is amazing and strikes straight to the heart of so many issues! Also, I was really shocked by the ending, which doesn't happen to me very often.

(blog post will be live 4/29/19)

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

LITTLE DARLINGS is a creepy and addictive psychological thriller about a new mother of twins who fears her babies are changelings. Was this brought on by postpartum psychosis, or is there something sinister going on?
I enjoyed this modern dark fairy tale very much. Lauren, the mother, was a compelling character, and her whole situation gave me a terrible feeling of dread. I also loved Jo Harper, the detective investigating the case, and her complicated relationship with a journalist covering the story.

This is a chilling and suspenseful debut novel that perfectly blends folklore and domestic thriller. Unique!

**Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley in exchange of an honest review.**

I had to make days-long stops at reading the book because I've been having very busy days, and that took a bit away from the wholesome enjoyment of the story for me, yet it was so good and interesting that I still say it was way above average! I liked it very much.

The folk tale motives and elements match the psychological suspense feel of the novel way better than one would think. This book is weird, but weird in a good way. Most of the suspense and mystery is not only about what might have happened or is happening, but also that it's not clear what is it about, you're not even sure what subgenre you're reading. That sounds confusing, and it is, but in this case this is the only way the story works. Is it psychological? Is it mythical? You have no way of knowing if Lauren, the main character only imagines things, or they really are happening. It obviously can work only if you have no idea if supernatural even exists in this book. And... you're never sure about that. It's done amazingly well.

I could rant about this story a lot more, but I'm not sure I can without giving away any spoilers. So, speaking of other things... The characters were real, relatable, people we can see in our everyday lives as well. Lauren, the mother, wasn't very likable (at least for me), but she was very real and relatable. Her struggles after her babies were born were pictured way more realistically than it's in most books. At the beginning, when it wasn't yet a completely crazy ride where insanity and supernatural spiraled together in a hardly solvable knot, I thought many times that this should be read by anyone with a new mother in their close environment. Here I have to state, too, that I absolutely, whole-heartedly hated her husband, Patrick. He was in many ways a very good character - way too realistic, and that's exactly why I was actually disgusted with him. The way he treated her, the way he acted... It was so infuriating that a couple of times I even had to stop reading a little and go out of the room. Unfortunately, there are too many men like him. Jo Harper, the detective was my favorite character in the book. She was human, she had deep feelings and she was badass! My kind of woman. There were even a bit of time for her in the story for a bit of a flirtation, without being forced or cringe-worthy. It was actually pretty cute.

The writing is beautiful. I was actually surprised how good it is, since this is a debut novel and all.

This book is a police procedural with supernatural elements,. Sounds weird, but it works and it was a seriously creepy read.

Lauren Tranter has just given birth to twin boy and is exhausted, and whilst on an outing to the park she falls asleep on a bench and when she wakes her boys are gone. When the police find them she is at first relieved, but then comes to believe that they are not her twins, but changelings.

Ms Golding’s portrayal of Lauren’s mental health state seemed totally real. I couldn’t decide until the end if Lauren was just suffering from post partum psychosis, or if the babies really had been swapped and cleverly Ms Golding leaves the reader to make up their own mind. . The police procedural element of the book was well done, and I loved the character of DS Jo Harper.

The supernatural component of the book made my spine tingle. Imagine listening to your 4 week old babies talking to each other and singing those eerie songs! The way the author managed to weave the folklore and fairy tales into the narrative was superb.

This is an extremely well written debut novel and I look forward to reading more of Ms Golding’s work in the future.

I would like to thank Melanie Golding, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

To put it succinctly, Lauren is married to a...jerk. Lauren is either being stalked by someone trying to steal her children and replace them with changelings or she is suffering from depression. Either way, her husband is a jerk. The might have done more than just be an annoying reminder of the misogyny that is still so prevalent in a lesser time. Now it just makes me angry as a woman and a mother. Knowing the history of women being institutionalized when they failed to follow a script, this hits low and hard. You aren't sure which you read. It doesn't matter.

Rarely does a creepy horror-esque synopsis come to fruition in the book. Typically they rally flat and are overly predictable. Not the case with this goldmine of a story! I was surprised by this one and cannot recommend it enough.

This is a story about a mother who encounters a “witch” in her hospital room after giving birth to twins. Of course, no one but her sees anything. Shortly after she believes her babies have been taken and replaced with creatures that only look like her babies by the witch. Throughout the story, you’re never quite sure if this mother is simply experiencing psychosis after giving birth or if there is truly something evil lurking in place of her babies.
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This book had a masterful way of sneaking in scary moments in the middle of mundane times that would put you on edge. It was spun masterfully so you weren’t quite sure what was real and what wasn’t, or whose side you should be on. Very well done and would recommend!

"Little Darlings" was such a great surprise! I really enjoyed myself reading this thrilling novel about a mother of newborn twins who, still in the hospital, had an horrifying experience: a woman tried to take her babies away and replace the twins (Morgan and Riley) with some creatures of her own. She's certainly tired, but she knows what happened, what she saw that night, and she knows she's not crazy. Lauren calls the police, ask for help, but no one seems to believe her, not even her husband.

Lauren takes care of her babies, love them. She will do whatever she can to protect them from that witch. One day, the babies disappear from her side in a park, nearby the river, the first day she allowed herself to leave the house and see people... She lost her babies for the river witch. She must get them back. Not the ones that returns to her the same day. They must look like Morgan and Riley, but she knows, she scream, these are not her babies. She is shocked, but will fight back. Lauren will find them, the right ones. She will. But first, she must act normal, pretend to tolerate those poor horrifying creatures to get away of the mental health unit and take hers babies back. She's not crazy. Right?

I absolutely loved this book! I am a big thriller consumer and am really glad I picked this one up! Melanie Golding writing's great; I couldn't stop reading. Just had to know what the heck was going to happen next
It's creepy, dark and creative in so many ways. If you love thrillers, dark fairy tales and fast-paced reads, just pick it up now!

Creepy premise. Unreliable character in Mom, making the”facts” questionable. A little more background on changelings would have been nice. I’m left not getting the point...why swap kids only to take back the unnatural ones?