Upon starting this book I wasn’t really sure I was going to like it due to urs dark nature. Early on though I found it really had a hold on me. I felt such a bond with main character. She was lost in trying to protect her babies. The end had a twist I didn’t see coming. Overall I enjoyed the premise of the story

I found this book to be completely enthralling. On one side you have a woman that is living in fear that something will happen to her children and on the other you have history and folklore. The woman is thought to be crazy and her spouse looks like the obvious person that is enabling this with his affair. The book has excellent culmination as the story proceeds and I love the way that the fairy tales are thrown in to enliven the story and to broaden the possibilities of why the children are abducted. The sheer creativity of the premise of the book is amazing and different from anything I have read before. I will be recommending this book with full abandon and hope that other readers enjoy this book as much as I have. Thanks for the ARC, Net Galley. This book is nothing short of spectacular.

After a difficult delivery, Lauren Tranter gives birth to twin boys Morgan and Riley and finds herself thrust into the demands of motherhood. Late one night, a strange woman visits Lauren in the hospital and attempts to kidnap her babies, swapping them with her own creature like children. When the police arrive, there is no evidence that the event happened and Lauren is diagnosed with having a mental break due to her exhaustion. After Lauren is released back home, strange gifts and sightings of the woman convince her that she must remain vigilant of her children at all times. One sunny afternoon Lauren takes the boys to the park and accidentally falls asleep on a bench, when she wakes up the boys are gone. Although boys are found and returned to Lauren shortly after, she immediately knows something is not right...they look like Morgan and Riley...but they are not. Lauren knows what she must do to bring her babies back...but if she is wrong it could be a fatal mistake.

Little Darlings is a captivating and eerie debut novel from Melanie Golding. I am not quite sure where it falls in as far as genre but I would say fiction/suspense with a fantasy element. This novel has the fantasy appeal of the classic Changeling stories and other folktales involving swapped children but with a surprising twist. I found myself throughout the novel questioning Lauren's sanity and then agreeing with her that the children were in fact not human. Although I am not quite sure if this novel would classify as frightening, it definitely had an unnerving quality, and there were moments that I actually got goosebumps reading it. Throughout the book there are excerpts from other folktales, which I felt really complimented and enhanced the narrative. I really enjoyed this unique novel and look forward to more books by this author.

Wow, this book is very creepy. A mother who gives birth to twins is asked to exchange her twins. Is it in her mind? Supernatural? I couldn’t put the book down. Excellent story.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Side note: excellent descriptive writing on the few weeks after giving birth.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an advanced copy of LITTLE DARLINGS in exchange for an unbiased review. I really appreciate the opportunity to read this book before it is released. All opinions that follow are my own.

LITTLE DARLINGS by Melanie Golding doesn’t come out until April 30, 2019, but you need to put this on your list of books to read now. I’m serious!

LITTLE DARLINGS isn’t your typical psychological thriller that we all enjoy reading - this is a full-blown horror story. The explicit descriptions of the extreme physical and mental suffering the main character, Lauren, endured giving birth to twin boys and then caring for the babies after the birth caused me so much anxiety, I wished I had some Xanax.

As the story progresses, Lauren’s entire experience with motherhood is nothing but complete torture - enough to drive anyone over the edge. As if reading about someone being driven to the brink of insanity isn’t terrifying enough, add some supernatural, Grimms’ fairy-tale-esque elements to the story in the form of a creepy stalker who reeks of fish, leaves slithering silverfish in her wake and has twin eel-like creatures in a basket that can talk, and I wasn’t only anxiety-ridden, I was completely traumatized! (And also very, very grateful I can read about such dreadful misery and not actually live it.)

This book will definitely not be for everyone. Reading this story will make your pulse race and your stomach flip at times, but you will keep turning the pages. It is one of the most dark, disturbing books I have ever read, and I absolutely loved it! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves thrillers, mysteries, horror stories, and adult fairy tales.

I was supposed to do a great many things today, but once I started Little Darling’s, I had to read until the book was finished. Lauren, after giving birth to twin boys is visited by a malicious spirit who wants to take her boys and exchange them for hers. She calls the police but no one believes her, as there is no evidence of this woman. Even home, Lauren exhausted, her husband Patrick no help with the babies, she is on guard afraid this woman will make good her threat. On her first day out the unthinkable occurs, and her babies are abducted. When returned, Lauren is positive these are not her babies, they were switched. Part horror story, part psychological suspense, I couldn’t stop turning pages until I knew the ending. My only complaint is her terrible husband. He was very easy to dislike and I wish the story continued a little longer to see what happened to him.

When I read the description for this book I expected a lot of suspense and possibly some good horror. However, I found neither. Parts of the book were rather boring and any horror was lacking. The author seemed to place more suspense on whether the one character was lesbian or heterosexual rather than building up suspense for the main storyline.

This was a really interesting take on some dark fairy tales with a creepy twist! When Lauren gives birth to twin boys she doesn't feel the immediate love she believes she should. After all, it's difficult to nurse two babies and find time to sleep as well. But when a mysterious woman appears in the maternity ward that night, threatening to exchange her twins for changelings, Lauren locks herself in the bathroom and calls the police. Upon arriving home, she sees the woman in her window and Harper, the police detective, gets involved again as her story seems credible to the woman who gave up her own daughter when pregnant. This is a chilling and sometimes sinister story that may having you cuddling your young ones even after you finish the book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for an advanced read in exchange for this review.

Lauren has just given birth to twins. She's exhausted. Everyone is telling her to get some rest. At night, she swears that she saw a woman in her hospital room trying to steal her babies. Everyone reassures her that she just needs to get some rest and that she's imagining things. Then, her babies disappear briefly from the park. When she gets them back, she swears that these are not her babies. What is going on? What is happening to Lauren? What happened to her babies?

Geez. This was a creepy read. I finished it pretty quickly and thought it was a well told story. There's a lot of dark history and dark folklore, which makes the story even creepier. Enjoyable read, but you may want to read it in the daylight with your kids nearby.

☆₩°☆ARC provided by netgallery ☆°☆°▪

Little Darlings was a great thriller I just couldnt put it down. I have never read anything from this author before but I think I would read more from her.

# Little Darlings/ Net Galley#
I was given a free advance copy of this book for an honest review. It starts out a little slow and I almost quit reading. But, I wanted to give it a chance to pull me in. It starts out with twin boys and who doesn’t like babies. The reader has to decide if the mother is suffering from postpartum or just a little off. There is a darkness to the story that could be like a Grimms fairy tales or even witchcraft. I wasn’t sure where the story was headed and was anxious to reach the end to see how it turns out, but was disappointed in the ending. I am not certain if I will recommend this book to my friends and family. .

If Grimms' Fairy Tales and The Changeling had a twin babies, Little Darlings would be those babies.

An unsettling tale of a new mother, Lauren, of twin boys, who finds herself terrorized by a macabre woman attempting to abduct Lauren's babies and replace them with her own. Her account is dismissed by hospital staff, the police, and even her husband as a hallucination attributed to exhaustion, even Lauren herself begins to question her own sanity. The only person that is unconvinced that Lauren has simply snapped is the investigator that responded to her call for help, Detective Harper.

Upon returning home from the hospital, Lauren quickly descends into a waking nightmare that she cannot escape from, leaving her more and more desperate and going to extreme lengths to protect her infants.

If I had one con to point out in this story it would be with the narrative for Detective Harper. Her personal relationship with the reporter is distracting and adds nothing towards advancement the plot.

This story is framed with dark history and and even darker folklore that adds an eerie depth to the book. This is a foreboding and unnerving spine-chiller that leaves the reader questioning if it's possible for fable to turn into reality.


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

I throughly enjoyed this adult fairy tale, of it can be called a fairy tale. Wonderful debut novel, reminiscent of Ira Levine. I was completely engrossed in the story and get such compassion for Lauren throughout. Highly recommend.

A dark, creepy tale reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm at their Grimmest. I consider that a good thing. Do you believe in folklore and faeries? Or in the scientific technology of video and audio analysis? While reading this compelling book you may believe in both. Very well written but found a couple phrases just a bit precious. Also I felt that emphasis on Detective Harper’s professional and personal life somewhat detracted from the case although she was a positive caring force.

Lauren has undergone a difficult birth of twins and has reason to believe that there is a threat to steal them from her. Is she suffering from postpartum depression/ psychosis or is what she sees and hears actually very real? Is her husband contributing to her paranoia? Do you believe in Changelings? There is a fear that Lauren’s plan to restore order may have disastrous results, but also a hope for a happy outcome.

The author did a terrific job in portraying Lauren’s troubled and confused mind to the reader and her emotions seemed very real. This is a memorable tale, but anyone with twin babies or who is expecting twins might find it quite unsettling.

Many thinks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy of Little Darlings in return for an honest review.

Everyone knows that postpartum depression is real, but changelings? That’s something out of a dark fairy tale, right? Lauren knows what she saw shortly after giving birth to her twins, Morgan and Riley. A woman tried to take them, leaving something not quite human in their place. Everyone laughs off Lauren’s story, she’s obviously just exhausted. But then a few months later, the babies are stolen. When they are found later, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Everyone except Lauren that is; she just knows these creatures are not her children and sets out to find her real babies. This is a super creepy book and begs the question, what is real and what is imagined. Couldn’t put it down