Oh boy, this book was really creepy for me, considering is not the genre I usually go for, but OMG I loved it so much. I could not put it down. I was so intrigued from the moment I read the blurb and I am so glad I read it coz it wasn't like anything I've read before.
The storry was told so well and I really fell in love with the author. And I would love to read more of her. Boy I can't wait to see the movie now and I really hope they don't change anything coz the book itself was amazing. Thank you netgalley for this chance and I highly recommend this book.
This storry for sure will stay with me for a long long time. 5 star must read

This is a pretty creepy book that I ended up really liking. The plot is intriguing and I had to keep reading to find out what would happen next. Perfect reading for a chilly fall day.

Thank you to NetGalley, Melanie Golding and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC of this novel.

Wow. This was an exciting, suck you in and don't let go thriller. I read this book in two days, since I needed to know what happened next. Well written, exciting story. I loved it.

This was a very good mystery had me in the book reading couldn't put it down would highly recommend it. It made a very good mystery

Full disclosure: I probably picked the wrong time in my life to read "Little Darlings," the debut novel by Melanie Golding, because my wife is six months pregnant with twins. I would not let her near my copy of this novel, the story of Lauren, her newborn twin boys, and the story of changelings, people who disappear and come back looking like your loved one, but not acting like him/her. I did not really know much about the plot before I started this novel, and I was pleasantly surprised by how fast this story moved along. There were times when I sat down to read and huge chucks of the book passed without me even thinking. If I could afford the time to sit down and read a book straight through, I feel like this is one that would be easy to read in one sitting.

The plot moves at the pace of a mystery, but the characters are well developed and defined, to the point where the reader starts to root for certain characters and hate others. I will say (and maybe this is because I am going to be the father of twins soon) that I wanted to punch Patrick, her husband, hard in the face. There is nothing likable about him, especially in the way that he deals with the new additions to the family. Golding really does such a good job making him a heel and using him as such that none of the actions that he takes throughout the entire book are out of character for him. This consistency in all of her characters makes for a strong novel with a believable story. Because of this the attachment that I had for these characters was much stronger than most novels. For this, I really enjoyed "Little Darlings" and I cannot recommend it enough. I just hope that we don't have similar experiences with twin babies and Lauren and Patrick have.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Little Darlings concerns the tales of changelings, creatures left in cribs in place of human children stolen by faires. Lauren Tranter just gave birth to twin boys and is having trouble coping. She insists that a crazed woman entered her hospital room and tried to trade eels for Lauren's twins. The threats continue once Lauren and the boys return home. Lauren's husband helps less and less as his paternity leave runs out and he continuously leaves Lauren and the babies on their own. Fortunately the mom's from her pre-natal group are persistant and they finally coax Lauren into bringing the babies out on a beautiful day. After a pleasant afternoon with her friends and their babies, Lauren closes her eyes for a second, dozes off and awakens, horrified, to discover that the babies are gone. Detective Harper is the only one who believes Lauren is seeing something and runs down all the possible leads. What follows is a tale equal parts terrifying and creepy. I read it in one sitting - couldn't put it down. I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone pregnant or with infants - especially with twins, but its definitely a good, scary read guaranteed to give you the heebee-jeebees for a long while.

Overall an enjoyable book. The feeling of unease permeating the writing definitely followed through to the end. Was Lauren crazy? Was the spirit real? It's very ambiguous as a plot through the book and even up to the end you're still not quite sure who to believe. While normally I don't like book endings open to interpretation I feel it was fitting with this. I sincerely disliked the husband as a character, both because of being a cheater and for being the most unsupportive clod; I would have liked something nasty to happen to him. There were some portions which lagged (hence the 4/5) but it kept a steady pace for the most part and the writing was good quality.

I give this book 3 stars because it was a fun read and I liked Golding's writing style and how she mixed folklore and police procedural troupes.
However I didn't really like any of the characters except Joanna the police officer. Patrick the husband needs a good punch in the face- he was absolutely awful and fortunately I thought Lauren was just so- so and you're supposed to really feel for her.
I wouldn't really classify this book as horror, as the most horrifying part to me, was the very beginning describing giving birth (not a mom)!

Creepy book with twists and turns.
Lauren, a new mom of twins, is struggling. She’s tired, depressed, and doesn’t want to leave the house. All of this comes after an incident in the hospital when a strange woman tries to abduct her twins. No one believes the incident actually happened and this leads to a series of counselor visits. Lauren’s husband is no help pushing her to take care of the boys on her own while he sleeps in the spare room to get sleep. He finally talks her into going to lunch with her friends one day and that’s when the real trouble begins. There’s an actual abduction, creepy spirits, and look alike babies.
This book had me guessing about the abductor until the end.

a dark and completely absorbing study of motherhood, it will not be for everyone but if you like scary stories this is for you

Wow! An excellent chilling tale that had me gripped from beginning to end.

After Lauren gives birth to her twins, a woman attempts to abduct them but nobody believes her. A few weeks pass and exhausted from caring for the twins, Lauren falls asleep while resting during a stroll with her babies and awakes to find the stroller and the twins are gone! Fortunately, they are found quickly but Lauren is convinced that they are not her babies. They have been swapped with someone else's!

The story follows Lauren's incarceration in a psychiatric unit since she is considered a threat to her children when nobody believes her claims that her children are not hers and Lauren's fight to get out and do what needs to be done to get her babies back.

Keeps you guessing to the end as to whether Lauren is delusional or events happened as she believes.

This is a creepy book.
The subject matter, missing children , is upsetting and evil connotations make it even creepier.
It is, however, a very good read.
As I read this novel I found myself thinking the mother did it, or the girlfriend or the father...or maybe evil something..
This author has a bright future. Her book was very readable and kept drawing me back to find out what was next.
Te ending was not really what I was hoping for given the rest of the book, but I still very much enjoyed the writing.

An interesting book with unusual folk tale undertones. Not a horror, not a detective nor thriller, but a psychological mash-up of all. (which is a good thing IMO).

The premise was well thought out and the post-natal aspects especially interesting, not usually explored in novels.

However, I found a lot of the characterisation basic and cliched, especially the male characters and staff at Hospital. Also factually incorrect in the described use of Mental Health Act (cannot be detained for 3 days to Hospital by Police; Section is expired as soon as assessed by Doctor who then decides whether to detain for up to 28 days).

Still well worth a read and will make a fabulous movie; now who is going to play Lauren and Harper?

A new author for me but it is a good creepy book and I liked the way this author writes. There is plenty of suspense and an excellent page turner.

I can thoroughly recommend this book if you like something a bit different.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This book was exquisite. The writing just blew me away, it was so creepy yet beautifully written I just couldn't stop reading it! Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this amazing book.
The story is about Lauren and Patrick and the birth of their twin boys. The story begins with the birth of the babies and what follows is both horrifying and fascinating. While Lauren is in the hospital recovering from the birth of her two boys she hears a frightening woman behind the curtain next to her talking to what could be a baby bird or cat and Lauren's imagination goes to work. The doctors feel that she is just overly tired and imagining things. The next time she hears the voice she gets up to see who is behind the curtain where she is confronted by a frightening woman who wants to swap her creatures for Lauren's twins. Lauren grabs her babies and locks herself in the bathroom and calls the police. Again, the doctors write it off to lack of sleep and send them home. Lauren is terrified that this woman will come and take her babies and begins locking herself in her room and refusing to go outside. Her husband finally talks her into getting out with boys for some fresh air and when she falls asleep on the park bench she awakens to her worst nightmare....her boys are gone.
Needless to say this book was really good. I loved the small details like at the beginning of each chapter there was a short poem or story about changelings, it definitely set the mood for the book. I seriously had a hard time putting this one down. I've already been raving about it to my library staff!

Genuinely creepy! New mother of twins Lauren is exhausted and imagining things, or is she. When someone attempts to abduct her children before she even leaves the hospital she isn’t believed by her husband or the hospital staff. With references to dark fairytales, this book is excellent. The suspense builds as Lauren realizes what she must do to save her own twins. Very unsettling and dark, excellent psychological thriller.

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
Little Darlings
by Melanie Golding (Goodreads Author)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Nov 19, 2018 · edit
it was amazing

Amazing... "Rosemary's Baby" meets the Twilight Zone. A tour de force Debut work of art by Melanie Golding. A mythical , creepy fairy tale with a psychological thriller component. The twisted and eerie story unfolds in effortless prose that sweeps the reader along. The initial concept involves a possible paranoia of young mother, Lauren ... after an exhausting delivery of twin boys. Even while still in the hospital she envisions an event in which a strange women attempts to steal her babies and replace them with "identical" babies. She locks herself in the bathroom with her babies and calls the police ... none of the hospital staff or even her husband believe this actually occurred and is a result of a psychotic break due to exhaustion. Only Detective inspector Jo Harper suspects there is some substance to her "alleged" event.
After Lauren goes home the story ramps up with intrigue and unexplained happenings that question the her reality ... and question the motives of her husband, who is certainly less than supportive in her postpartum exhaustion and even suggestive of the presence of philandering.
Eventually responding to urgings of friends and her husband she ventures out of the house to meet with friends at a cafe. Afterword to extend her outing in the "fresh air" she strolls through the part with the baby carriage only to be suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion. She sits down on the park bench for a "brief" nap, and then suddenly awakens to the awful realization that her babies and carriage are gone. A tense police search occurs while the park is locked down ... only to find the abandoned baby carriage ... however with the babies still inside.
However, Lauren immediately perceives multiple variations in both of the babies demeanor .. and knows that these "babies" are not hers. The narrative ratchets up in a twisted creepy almost mythical storyline the results in an unexpected but satisfying conclusion.
Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Land Books for supplying the ARC for my reading enjoyment in exchange for an honest review. Melanie Golding is immediately added to my Authors to follow list.

Not going to read this. I'm calling it a DNF after two chapters.

A beyond exciting premise, but sadly the ending got spoiled to me. Well, that's life for you, I guess.

Thanks for an ARC! Might consider buying this in print and reading it when it comes out, though.

A new take on the tired mother of a newborn, well twins. This book is well written and a great story another book that you will not be able to put down. Get this book and enjoy a thrill ride.

I thoroughly enjoyed Little Darlings. The pacing was great, I never found myself skimming or wishing the story would move along. I was a bit thrown off by the first chapter in Harper's POV, just because I had been expecting everything from Lauren's POV, but I found that storyline interesting as well. I absolutely hated the husband! I don't have children but was so upset on Lauren's behalf for how he was treating her during his paternity leave. All of the main characters were fleshed out well, but I wish we would have gotten more details of Lauren's past mental health history. And maybe more about Natasha?

All in all, I think this is a great debut! My thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.