This story was dark, sad, and unsettling. Lauren Tranter has just given birth to twins. The delivery was traumatic, and of course the subsequent nights bring stress with the learning to breastfeed, sleep deprivation, and just learning a new process in general! So when Lauren calls for help saying she's locked in the maternity ward bathroom with her twins because a woman is trying to take them and replace them with her own "creatures," everyone chalks it up to postpartum anxiety and exhaustion. No one believes her, but a detective named Joanna Harper, feels for Lauren and wants to help her and not simply call it a case of paranoia. 

I loathed Patrick, Lauren's husband. My heart ached for Lauren. Being a mom, I can relate to Lauren especially from dealing with postpartum anxiety myself. It's hard to distinguish at times what you've conjured in your head vs. what is really going on around you. The author did a great job portraying new parent life in a haunting but realistic way. 

This is definitely a story that will stick with me for a long time-as well as have me checking my babies! ;)

I have mixed feelings about this book. The plot is definitely unique. I enjoyed the story in parts. Lauren's frustration and fear is well captured, but I found some parts a little too drawn out for my liking, especially when they did not add much to the real story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Clearly, this was not the book for me and I know I am in the "super minority" here about the story. For me, it just did not flow with its plethora of unlikable characters and the murky back and forthing the book and its characters seemed to travel.

I so understand the concept of what the author was trying to state about postpartum depression, but the author coupling it up with tales of the supernatural and the sinister of long ago just did not ring any bells for me. Truthfully though, I had previously read two very well done thrillers, so my thriller expectations was at a high and this book just did not come up to that level.

That being said, there are many very positive reviews on this story, so do take a look at those.
Thank you to Melanie Golding, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

“Mother knows best” takes on a sinister new meaning in this unsettling thriller perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Grimms’ Fairy Tales."

This books is ultra creepy, sad and very creative! It is an amazing debut novel. My creepy heart wants to read it over and over again.

his book was brought to my attention by a fellow blogger. I do not remember who... but I remember the mention it was on NetGalley and I thought it sounded so wonderful. I grabbed it on NetGalley but story of my life, I didn't have it read before it came out on audio. So I grabbed it on audio. I listened and I loved. Such an amazing read. It was everything I hoped for and more.




Lauren and her husband just had twin boys. The first night in the hospital, Lauren sees an old woman, hears her, this woman tries to trade their babies. No one else has seen this woman. Even when Lauren goes home, the woman is alaways there wanting her children. Lauren finally gets the nerve to go out and while at the park, her boys go missing. When they are found she swears they are not her boys and she must do the unthinkable to get her boys back.



So I can't say too much about this book. I don't want to give anything away because this was quite the ride. What I will say is this book was creepy, dark, insane, it made me question my own mind. This read will mess with you and your sanity.

The main character is an interesting character and she is unreliable.... or is she. I really can't say. This is what makes the entire book hard to figure out. There were times I thought that Lauren was completely sane, knew what she saw, and there is an explanation or a stalker or a kidnapper... then other times... I question everything she thought and said. I felt bad for her and I wanted her to be sane.

The character I really liked... the officer, Harper. She is pretty awesome. Great instincts and she really wants to help. She is a smart woman and I just adored her. She made her it mission to find out what was going on with Lauren. She wanted to believer her, in fact was the only on that did believe her. She goes out on her own to investigate and I think is the one that helps Lauren the most.

Really this book is a crazy mind screw and the ending is just one of those... you will like it or you won't. I liked it and I thought it was the perfect read. This will be one of my favorites of this year.



Super enjoyed it. Super loved it. Super amazing read!

Dark and deeply haunting. This book is one that I will not soon forget. The story was compelling as the author eloquently sends you down a creeptastic path.

The ending wasn't to my satisfaction. After leading the readers to a crescendo where they were unable to decide if it was a paranormal occurrence or Lauren's delusions, leaving an open ending was tantamount to a non-closure for the readers. This is something I generally don't like in my books.

This woman has twins, and then they seek to swap them out. That's the premise of the old tales of changelings, but this one takes it a bit differently. Is this mom really crazy, or did someone seek to swap her babies out with some other creatures?

I found it to be a good mix of old folk tale lore- and thriller. It made for a very compelling read, with a great deal of caution interwoven.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

I received a copy of this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to read this book because I kept getting distracted by other books, but once I got about halfway through I could not put it down. Creepy and supernatural, but also a good crime mystery. I enjoyed it. Read it by the campfire at a lake for extra creepiness!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. This one is kind of an odd one to read. It's suspenseful and held my interest well. Overall, the story was very imaginative and I liked the backstory. However, the ending felt very rushed. And because of that, it left the reader with a lot of unanswered questions. What was real and what was delusion? And if something was a delusion, then why could someone else see it? Overall, it was a decent read, but I wish there had been more clarification in the ending.

I did not finish this book because it was something that I was not interested in. I did not mesh with the writing style.

An old woman who smelled of river water came into Lauren’s hospital room and threatened to exchange her perfect twin sons for changelings. When a month later, the boys go missing, no one but Lauren believes this is exactly what happened. She pursues the truth, courageous in her heart that she’s right and will find her own children. Golding’s skill of the craft leaves Dear Reader wondering at the human mind’s capacity for belief, invoking age-old fairytales. Fans of Angela Slatter and Neil Gaiman will appreciate Golding’s style and storytelling power. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy of this wonderfully creepy novel from the publisher Crooked Lane Books through NetGalley.

This book put me to sleep. Twice.

I'm not opposed to tropey characters when they're done well, but Little Darlings is full of very flat, very one dimensional characters which meant the story would rely on the plot to carry it along... and unfortunately, the plot was pretty flat and one dimensional, too.

Delightfully unsettling. A blend of Grimm fairytales and domestic noir, with a heavy dose of unreliable narrator, Golding weaves a tale of the horror of motherhood. Is a mysterious woman trying to steal Lauren’s twins or is she wrestling postpartum, depression and exhaustion playing tricks on her mind? A gripping, compelling story. 5⭐️ #netgalley

Very rarely do I read a book all the way through and not like anything about it. This was one of those that I just could not feel. It was repetitive and did not hold my interest. I started it and put it down several times before I finally finished it. The only reason I finished was because I hate to mark a book as DNF. I try to always read the whole book and hope for the best.

I didn’t like any of the characters or the thrill aspect. It just did not do it for me. I’m very sorry. I’m not going to say I’ll never try this author again because I probably will. I have read books before that had this same affect yet went on to read others that I loved by the authors.

I just reviewed Little Darlings by Melanie Golding. #LittleDarlingsBook #NetGalley

Only one star for me and that’s a must. I don’t recommend this book nor do I say don’t read it. Some may love it. It just wasn’t for me.

I unfortunately wanted to like this book more than I did. I was really excited about the premise, as I love spooky, creepy books that explore strained family dynamics. I found myself bored by the repetitive nature of Lauren's struggle with connecting the twins, her sharing her fears, no one believing her, etc. Maybe because I am not a mother I found this dry and uninteresting. I kept waiting for the pace to pick up and for a big surprise to happen toward the end, but unfortunately it just didn't deliver for me. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this title!

A horror/thriller set in England's Peak District. Lauren has just given birth to twin boys and is understandably exhausted and drugged on pain medication. She's also coming to the realization that her husband is a selfish asshole more interested in his beauty sleep than in helping to care for their children; there's never a good time for a relationship to fall apart, but immediately post-birth is especially bad. So when Lauren begins to experience things straight out of a medieval fairy tale – a witchy woman with a basketful of strange eel children, creepy folk songs about mothers abandoning their babies, smells of river mud and fish – perhaps it's understandable that she can find no one who believes her. Matters get worse when the mysterious woman manages to switch their babies, leaving Lauren with a pair of changelings who look exactly like her former children. Golding does an excellent job of describing their eerie and frightening traits enough to scare the reader without ever going over the line of being unbelievable that no other character would notice that something is wrong.

Alternative chapters switch the viewpoint to police detective Joanna Harper, the only person who takes Lauren's account seriously, though even Harper has to fight against disbelief and a boss who's overly concerned about their budget. Harper is also engaged in an awkward flirtation with reporter Amy, which was absolutely a welcome surprise; I always love it when I happen across unexpected lesbians in my reading.

Little Darlings isn't the scariest or most complex book I've ever read, but Golding does a good job of mixing the folklore with the modern setting and keeping up the tension. Much of the book balances on the edge of "is Lauren crazy or is she right?" and the writing handles that well. If I have a complaint, it's that Little Darlings uses psychiatric medicines and psychiatric hospitals as a threat and a punishment, a desolate fate Lauren is banished to when no one believes her about the changelings, rather than a source of help for many people. But that's such a ubiquitous problem in horror that it's hardly worth singling out Little Darlings.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3023014604

This was a tale like no other! It was like Grimm Fairy Tales meets horror and psychological thriller. It was one of my favorite top 5 of 2019 and I am so thankful for being able to review this beautiful unique piece of art of a novel. Thank you Netgalley!!

0 Stars - DNF at 27% (Marking one star here on NetGalley as required to give a star rating)

First, I want to thank NetGalley for the chance to read and review this title, even if it took me a while to pick it up.

I just can't go any further into this in detail. I severely dislike the characters from every angle I try to look at it. I chose this book thinking it had some basis in folklore and fairytales, and it tries to sell itself as such; however, after reading the last chapter to see if my inklings were right, I realize it isn't that at all. Usually, psychosis in books enthralls me, but I just couldn't connect with this and I found it really boring. Had it leaned more heavily on those principles I might have enjoyed it more, but the small glimpse of that premise was poorly done and only a sliver.

I am going to call this the straw that broke the camels back. Lauren repeatedly told Peter she wasn't well enough to come home yet; however, he pushed and pushed until she did. When they are home he does NOTHING to help, mumbles and huffs with small tasks, and then suggests that they shouldn't both sacrifice (sleep in this case) to care for the babies. I throw in the towel there for many reason that I will not flesh out in this space. I wanted to enjoy this, but I just couldn't invest any more time into something I would end up despising even more.

Little Darlings was a creepy and disturbing book that has a haunting effect. Overall, I felt that - while it was not my style of book - it was engaging and a good fit for high schoolers (mature readers) who enjoy horror and psychological thrillers. Thank you for letting me review this!