Overall I found Little Darlings to be quite boring and tedious. The characters were one dimensional and predictable. I really wish there had been more of a horror/thriller aspect. I think the premise had promise but it was wasted.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I guess this book is a mix of Psychological Thriller and Police Procedural, with a supernatural element. The premise of which sounds good but just didn't work for me.

I wanted much more from this book—the premise was interesting and the prose gleamed with occasional moments of poignancy—but found myself ultimately disappointed by where the story went.

Creepy and a good read! I listened to this book and the narrators were good! I liked the story but didn't fall in love with it! I rate it a 2.9

I am in charge of the senior library and work with a group of Reading Ambassadors from 16-18 to ensure that our boarding school library is modernised and meets the need of both our senior students and staff. It has been great to have the chance to talk about these books with our seniors and discuss what they want and need on their shelves. I was drawn to his book because I thought it would be something different from the usual school library fare and draw the students in with a tempting storyline and lots to discuss.
This book was a really enjoyable read with strong characters and a real sense of time and place. I enjoyed the ways that it maintained a cracking pace that kept me turning its pages and ensured that I had much to discuss with them after finishing. It was not only a lively and enjoyable novel but had lots of contemporary themes for our book group to pick up and spend hours discussing too.
I think it's important to choose books that interest as well as challenge our students and I can see this book being very popular with students and staff alike; this will be an excellent purchase as it has everything that we look for in a great read - a tempting premise, fantastic characters and a plot that keeps you gripped until you close its final page.

This book was incredibly original and perfectly spooky. I really enjoyed it. The lore aspect was my favorite part.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.A great read. I loved the story.

This book drew me in from page one. I had to know what happened with the babies, and why they would be taken in the first place. I made some guesses, but after reading more, I soon realized that of my guesses were wrong, which made me even more interested in this book. The ending is something i didn't see coming, nor could have even made a guess about. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. In fact, I have already recommended it to all my friends and family!

If you are looking for a weekend read that will keep you riveted, this is it!!

Oh my goodness, the lengths a mother will go to find her children is exhaustible, and never to be underestimated! This book will take you on some twists and turns that you were not expecting, and leave you wanting more!
Get ready to lose track of time and get lost in a book that will make the hair on your head rise!

This book is very Grimm fairytales. I enjoyed some parts of the book but there was some parts I couldn't forgive that were poorly written and made me unhappy

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding is a 2019 Crooked Lane publication.

Creepy, atmospheric mix of psychological suspense and supernatural folklore

Lauren is understandably exhausted after giving birth to twins, but enough to imagine she saw a woman enter her hospital room and attempt to swap out her babies? Lauren insists someone is out to steal her twins, but the only person who is giving her the benefit of the doubt is Joanna Harper, the officer who responded to Lauren’s initial emergency call.

Then, just as Lauren is starting to feel confident about going out again her babies are abducted, just has she’d feared. Although they are quickly recovered, Lauren has a horrifying reaction, insisting the babies aren’t hers, which promptly lands her in an institution.

As Jo investigates the odd goings on, she makes some interesting discoveries about Lauren’s husband, some lurid folklore tales about twins, and a shockingly similar case that took place decades earlier...

This book was super-hot amongst some of my friends on social media last year. I’d been dying to see what all the fuss was about, but as I was still doing a lot of assigned work at that time the book slid down my TBR list and off my radar. I don’t think I realized the novel had such a strong paranormal tone, thinking it was more of a psychological thriller. As it turns out the novel is adept at genre bending- mixing suspense and mystery with supernatural elements, while painting a vivid portrait of the willing sacrifices parents will make in order to protect or save their children.

It’s an interesting mashup, and it works spectacularly. If all horror novels were like this one, I’d read this genre more often.

I liked Joanna, but occasionally her personal thoughts and relationship woes didn’t really interest me, or add anything much to the story. All her fretting about her feelings slowed down the momentum, occasionally breaking the carefully woven spell. Jo had some far more interesting event in her past that could have been explored more deeply. I didn't think her character was given enough depth, where there was some big potential there.

Other than that, this is a super tense story, very eerie and atmospheric, and despite the slightly disappointing and ambiguous conclusion, it left me with a lingering feeling of poignancy long after the final page was turned.

4 stars

A creepy, gripping book, playing to the worst fears of any mother. Almost gothic in feel, the sense of dread permeates this novel.

Whoa! What a great, creepy book! I really enjoyed the dark fairytale feel and thought the characters were well developed. I stayed up late finishing this one! I would recommend it, for sure.

I'm genuinely conflicted on how to rate Little Darlings. I mean a book about a creepy folklore has me written all over it. Initially I was absorbed in the story. Lauren had just delivered a set of twins and soon becomes convinced someone is trying to switch her babies with changelings. Throughout we are left wondering is it real or is Lauren suffering from PPD. I will say never personally having experienced PPD myself I thought Golding did an amazing job portraying to the reader how unsettling and scary it can be. The thing is the story just fell flat and the ending was unsatisfying .

Thank you to Netgalley for the free arc of this book. This book is a mystery/horror type book with a bit of creepiness added in. Tells the story of Lauren Tranter who is convinced an evil women is trying to steal her newborn twins and replace them with her own evil twins. She is also convinced that this evil trio lives under the water. When the twins actually are kidnapped and returned to her she believe that they are the imposter twins. Of course no one believes her. Even though I felt this was a good story, the author didn't exactly tie up any loose ends and left some questions unanswered. But for a first time author, this book was very good. The husband Patrick was a total jerk throughout this book and I was hoping he would get thrown in the river,never to be heard from again. I look forward to reading more from this author, she's very good.

Imagine every cliche you could put into your average domestic thriller and this is this book summed up. Boring, too long and ends with a whimper. A shame

This review may contain spoilers.
Wow, well I loved this book. It is a little hard to describe its genre as I would say it is part Horror, part Thriller, part detective tale. But one thing is for certain it is a real psychological thriller with truly creepy elements and it seems to take it inspiration from Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and other old folklore tales.
Shortly after giving birth to twins Morgan and Riley, she becomes convinced that a woman has attempted to ‘swap’ her babies whilst in the hospital, but no sign is found of the woman and her tale is dismissed as being caused by her tiredness and postpartum depression. Once she and the babies are back home, she hopes that things will settle down but this is not to be.
I do not want to say too much about the story as I do not want to spoil it for anyone but I must say
that the scenes in the Psychiatric hospital were very well observed. And I felt extreme sadness in Harpers dealings with Victoria. Were the things she said just the ramblings of a demented old woman or the truth of what really happened.
The last segment of the book fairly sped by. I was both terrified off and for Lauren and her babies, but that feeling was then replaced with a type of relief, I say type because the ending of the tale also filled me with sadness for the final plight of Lauren and her babies.
I understand that the book has been optioned to be made into a film and I feel the story is well suited to this. Strangely enough I have just watched the TV series ‘The Secrets She Keeps’ which is on a similar theme, and one of the scenes was set in a park around a pond / lake. It was so spooky to see it after just reading this book, that scene gave me the shivers just as this book did.

While this didn't end up being the edge of your seat thriller I hoped it would be, I still really enjoyed Little Darlings. This book was an absolute page-turner and I really felt every emotion our main character Lauren felt. A little slow in some places (thanks to a lot of explaining), the downfall for me was that some of my questions never really got answered. A taste of an unreliable narrator really kept me hooked and I thought the characters were well developed. 3.5 stars.

Loved it! Don't read in the dark bu yourself! Just kidding. I love the family drama, and suspense. I was creeped out a lot too. I couldn't put it down. I felt Lauren's anxiety immediately when I started reading. Little Darlings would be a great next read for your thriller category.